The Abnormal Gene
by Xyrule
Summary: Lucy's escape months before now means that she is not the only one to be recaptured by the Institute. Kohta and the others are dragged along as well. Now, in the newly-refurbished prison called a research lab, with a new Director following Kurama's death, she will discover that the line between human and Diclonius is blurrier than she thought. ABANDONED
1. The New Director

The Diclonius Research Institute was in havoc. The mysterious circumstances surrounding Director Kurama's death had driven doubt in the employees of their Chief's unshakeable resolve to control the subspecies.

Not to mention the rumors that Lucy was still at large. That drove fear into their hearts. The merciless cruelty of the Diclonius Eve was legendary. There wasn't a single person anywhere in the building that didn't know of her power, and of the list of confirmed deaths caused by her Vectors.

The Chief's silence meant that the Institute would have to deal with the problem of the open slot of Director on their own.

"Katsuragi-sama." said a woman, dressed in the uniform of the Head of Research.

The boy, who looked only barely of age, standing before him grinned, pushing a strand of his fairly long hair out of his face. "Please, Tatenashi-sensei. Call me Adamu." he said, laughing. "You haven't called for me in a while, I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me."

Tatenashi tsked, looking him over as she always did when she saw him. "I highly doubt anybody could forget _you_ , Katsuragi-sama." she said.

Katsuragi Adamu was, in a few words, pretty average. A little tall at exactly 183 centimeters, dressed in casual jeans and a t-shirt with the cover image of some anime involving nekomusumes on it. If anything, he looked more like some regular citizen than a member of one of the most secretive organizations on the planet. The only thing odd about him was his hair.

Anybody who saw it would be reminded of the odd creatures he frequently interacted with. Bright red, almost pink, and it always seemed to grow too quickly for him to cut it. Even now, it was past his shoulder, giving him an almost feminine appearance, though his obviously male body shape could prove that wrong. His hair was choppy at the ends, a messy line going across the ends. Evidently, he'd tried to cut it himself at some point and given up on the unruly strands.

He wasn't exactly the most athletically-built person working here, but he wasn't the weakest either. Not really muscular, but he was obviously not in any way unhealthy, if a little on the thin side. Average, as Tatenashi would say. Absolutely average. If not for the hair that he proudly called his "Nagato Uzumaki impersonation", he would be passed up as just another person.

"In any case, have you heard the news on the voting for the new Director?" Tatenashi asked. Katsuragi nodded, tilting his head.

"Yes, I did. I haven't heard yet who was chosen, though. I assume that was told to you and the other higher-ups?" he asked.

Tatenashi nodded. "Naturally, you had to be told who it was." she said.

Katsuragi nodded. "Why is that? Surely I'm not important enough to know prior to everyone else."

One of Tatenashi's eyes twitched. "You know very well that this place would fall apart without you." she said, a tone of irritation coming into her voice. "You've been named as the Director, Katsuragi-sama."

Katsuragi blinked. "I have?" he asked. "Why?"

 _A simple response from an even simpler person._ Tatenashi thought in annoyance. "I just told you. Everyone here knows it, you should have been Director years ago. This place is only still standing because you've been here to suppress the experiments."

Katsuragi finally showed the first sign of emotion, a quick flash of light in his red eyes that was gone in an instant. "What have I told you about calling them 'experiments'?" he asked calmly, but there was an edge to his voice.

Tatenashi sighed, waving a hand. "I know, I know. I don't pretend to understand your crazy views on them. In any case, do you accept your role as the new Director?"

Katsuragi grinned, nodding, his eyes closing as he did so. "No worries, I accept. So I guess that means I outrank you now, doesn't it, Tatenashi-sensei?"

Another twitch of her eye. "I suppose it does, _Katsuragi-ue._ " she said, obviously not happy to be using the higher-ranked honorific.

Another maddening grin from the young man. "Well, that was quick and simple. You know just how I am, don't you, Tatenashi-sensei?"

"Yes, I do. You're an annoying little brat to me, but now you're an annoying little brat with more power than I do." she said with annoyance.


	2. Aftermath

The Maple House was silent. Nobody dared to speak, nobody was willing to. Not after what they all knew had happened to one of their residents.

Nyu, or Lucy, or whatever she was now, had said that she had something to do, and Kohta had chosen to believe her. Thus, he had not seen the battle between her and the police force, though Nana had said that she could hear the gunshots from far away.

It had been several days, and there was no sign that she would return. Every time someone knocked on the door, Kohta, despite the depression he'd fallen into, would jump up and answer with a grin, but every time, it was someone else, a police officer come to ask them a few questions or a stranger asking for directions.

Each time the pink-haired girl, for Kohta still couldn't see her as anything but despite the memories awoken in him when he'd seen her kill those soldiers, neglected to show her perpetually innocent face, it only made him feel worse, until he finally stopped answering the door entirely.

Yuka had taken to staying as close to Kohta as possible. She knew what he was going through, knew the deep-seated feelings he'd had for the missing...she didn't know what to call her, after what she now knew of Nyu's real personality. Monster, that was her first thought, but then again, Nana was one of...them...too, and she had never so much as tried to hurt a human being.

Nana. Poor Nana. She was as shaken up by the death of her adoptive father as Kohta was over Nyu. She had always been a somewhat fragile girl, but now, not even Mayu could bring her out of her doldrums.

The Maple House was silent. No one wanted to speak, and so, no one spoke. All that could be heard was the sound of the grandfather clock in the hallway, having inexplicably started working despite nobody having fixed it ever since that day.

The clock didn't help the mood in the slightest. If anything, it only made the depressing air more obvious as it ticked in its regular intervals.

There wasn't even the usual sound of a big house settling. Just dead quiet, punctuated by the tick-tock of the pendulum. No sound at all from the residents, not even the usual sound of the music box playing in a corner.

Not that the music box worked anymore. It was broken now, as inexplicably and unexplainably as the clock's repair. It was as if the house itself was despairing for the loss of the horned girl.

A knock on the door stirred Yuka from her place next to Kohta, who had fallen asleep at some point, a deep frown on his face.

Yuka sighed, standing up, though she didn't want to leave the warmth the man provided. As much as she didn't want to, someone had to answer the door. She still clung to that little sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, there would be news about Nyu. Even if that news was just that they had found a body, she knew that that would be enough. Even seeing such a sight would be able to bring Kohta out of his disconnected state. She knew that the fact that they didn't know her fate was far worse on him than knowledge of her being dead would be.

It was another soldier, wearing the black combat uniform that had been proven time and time again to be totally useless against Lucy's wrath.

Yuka looked down, and was about to close the door without a word to the soldier, before he put a hand on the knob, keeping it open.

"Is this the residence of one Kohta Saori?" the soldier asked. "I'm here as a messenger for the Diclonius Research Institute."

Diclonius. The word meant nothing to Yuka, and she voiced her thoughts. "I don't know what that is. Leave us alone, we don't want to associate with-"

"It is related to the fate of the one you know as Nyu."

That shut Yuka up, and she stared wide-eyed at the soldier. "You...know what happened to her?"

The soldier nodded. "She has been successfully recaptured by the Institute, under orders of the new Director."

Yuka gritted her teeth. She didn't know about an Institute, but she could tell that the soldier was talking about some organization studying the horned humans Nyu was a part of. "How is she?" she asked, a tone of concern catching in her voice. Nyu had been captured, and she had no doubt she wasn't being kept under the best circumstances considering the past of the weird other self she contained.

The soldier nodded. "She is safe, don't worry. In fact, she may be safer there than anywhere else in the world. The new Director is far more forgiving than the last."

Yuka didn't care about the new Director, whoever it may be. Nyu was alive. That was all she needed to hear, and all Kohta would need to hear.


	3. Voice in the Dark

The girl known to everyone as Lucy jolted awake, hearing the voices and shufflings of people in a room.

She tried to look around, but quickly realized that she could see nothing. There was something covering her eyes, blocking her vision entirely. Some kind of fabric, perhaps gauze?

No. That was impossible. She's ensured that those soldiers would hit her directly during the battle. She should be dead now.

But she saw no light at the end of the tunnel, felt nothing but the fabric pulling on her head and the dull aching where her horns had...

That's right. She had them shoot off her one remaining horn. She distinctly remembered the sharp pain of the bone being severed from her skull.

She had underestimated the pain. She had lost her other horn only hours before, but she'd forgotten how destructive it was on her mind, and she'd lost control.

Exactly as she'd planned, she had intended from the start not to return to the Maple House. She didn't deserve to be with Kohta anymore, not now that he knew what she truly was.

Still, that didn't tell her where she was now. Was this the institute? It had the same disgustingly sterile atmosphere she knew all too well.

She hated that smell. It only served to remind her of the horrors she'd been forced to go through in her time there.

No. She would not accept being brought back to that place. She blindly struggled to sit up, and was about to start clawing at the bandages when a voice stopped her.

"Woah, there, calm down." said someone, a young man by the inflection, who couldn't have even been even old enough to drink, much less work at the DRI.

The tone in his voice only served to anger her. How dare he speak so casually, as if she was no longer a threat! She may be unable to see under these god forsaken bandages, but she still had her famed weapons!

She felt one of her invisible Vectors creep out from behind her. Good, they were fully functioning. That meant she could teach this impudent boy a lesson.

The Vector shot forward, and she grinned madly, ready to savor in the choked screams she usually heard from her victims-

The grin dropped as she felt a resistance, and her Vector was stopped entirely. What had happened? She was certain nothing had blocked it, he was just too close, and she had plenty of length left in the limb.

The boy just laughed again. "Calm down there, I'm not your enemy." he said calmly, far too calmly considering he was inches away from his body being ripped in half.

She grit her teeth, sending another Vector out, but that too was stopped by the same resistance. This time, however, it was accompanied with a bolt of pain spiking through her head, like a lightning strike hitting her skull. It felt like her brain was on fire, and she quickly retracted the arms, not wanting to damamge her obviously injured body any more.

It was odd. She had no desire to live anymore and by all rights should be dead, but this _child's_ insolence overwrote that with a burning anger at the sheer amount of pluck he mustered in his voice. It was as if he wasn't afraid AT ALL of her!

She spoke her concerns with a voice covered by her closed teeth. "Why are you so casual?" she spat. "Do you know what I am?!"

The man chuckled, only serving to anger her more. "Of course I do. You're just a girl who happens to have a special characteristic."

The utter honesty of the answer silenced her, and she stared at the boy, not that she could see him over the bandages. She reached to remove them, and felt a hand on hers.

She jolted back, lowering her hand with a jerk. "I suggest that you don't do that." he said quietly. "You'll have to wear those for a little longer while the marks heal."

"M-Marks?!" Lucy asked incredulously. "What did you people do to me?"

"We saved your life, that's what we did. Your horns. They were gone, and the wounds were turning rancid, so I had the doctors here smooth out the remaining bone to your skull level. In other words, your horns are gone."


	4. The Hornless Diclonius

It was several days before the boy next visited Lucy in her hospital bed, and for the whole time, she was silent, refusing to respond to questioning by the medics and barely resisting whenever they came to give her medication. She didn't try to attack them, though she knew she could easily escape even if she only could use a single Vector without that splitting headache she got the last time.

She didn't know how much time had passed in the world of her thoughts. She couldn't see, and something in that boy's voice when he'd warned her about the bandages made her terrified to touch them. He may have been just some employee, but even she was able to tell that he was genuinely worried for her safety.

She didn't know why he seemed to care so much, she had never once heard any of the bastards at the Institute worry even slightly for her wellbeing, but the thought that there was someone in this nightmare that wanted to keep her alive was comforting, even if he was just interested in using her for experiments.

She heard the door to the room she was in open, and instinctively turned to face it, though she couldn't see who it was. She had a feeling she knew, however, and the excitable greeting from the man confirmed what she thought.

"Hello, again!" the boy said, his footsteps getting louder as he walked right up to the hospitalized Diclonius. "Did you miss me, uhh…" he hesitated as he apparently forgot what he was going to say, and Lucy took the chance to respond. Might as well not antagonize her captors until she was strong enough to fight at her peak capacity. That and she had plenty of questions for the odd boy.

"Who exactly are you, anyway?" she asked, cutting him off from whatever he was going to say. "You don't sound like one of the people I'm used to hearing here."

The boy laughed in response, and she had an odd image in her head that he was shaking his head, though she had no clue what he looked like. For some reason, she imagined him to look like a younger version of Kohta.

"Name's Katsuragi Adamu. You probably don't know me, I was never assigned to you when you were last here, but I'm…" he hesitated, before chuckling. "I guess you could call me the Diclonii's moral support."

Lucy heard the voice of a female, probably around 40 or so, sigh from behind Katsuragi. "Director Katsuragi, don't be so modest all the time. You're more like their best friend than just simple moral support."

Lucy went silent at the other person's words. "D-Director?!" she exclaimed, wide-eyed, though it didn't change the blindness caused by the infernal bandages.

Katsuragi laughed hesitantly. "Yeah, I was voted the new Director just before our guys found you." he said. "I didn't bother telling you when we first met because I was still going through the transferal process."

Lucy had no idea how to respond, and Katsuragi continued.

"Anyway, me being Director doesn't change the fact that you're under my wing now, uhh…"

The woman whispered something in his ear that Lucy couldn't hear, and Katsuragi made an "Ah" sound.

"Right. Well, nice to meet you, Kaede Mikoto. I'll just call you Kaede." he said.

Lucy stiffened at the name, and grit her teeth in reaction. "How do you know that name?" she asked, a tone of anger creeping into her voice. "I want nothing to do with those people anymore."

"And yet you're fine with the name the Institute gave you?" Katsuragi asked, and even she had to admit it was sound logic. "I call all the Diclonii by their real names, or if they don't have them, by the names they prefer to be called by. I don't know much about your history other than your name, but I think it's probably a better thing to call you than a name half the people here can't even pronounce correctly and the other half cringe in fear at the connotation."

Lucy was silent for several seconds, before relenting. There was really no point in arguing with him, and she had a feeling that if she threatened him with her Vectors, or the one she could safely use, he would simply block it again like he'd done the last time.

She heard him stepping closer to her, and growled. "What are you doing?" she asked, annoyed at the mystery that was how he'd gotten knowledge of her real name.

"I'm going to take your bandages off now." he replied. "Just hold still."

Lucy, or Kaede, would have resisted, but something about Katsuragi made her want to trust him, as counterintuitive as it seemed to trust the DRI's Director. So, instead of resisting, she simply let him run his hands along her face, finding the edges of the bandages and pulling them away in strips. She finally got a glimpse of his face when one eye was uncovered, and blinked in surprise at the shocking similarity his face had with hers. He could almost pass for a Diclonius himself.


	5. Director Diclonius

Red hair, longer than Lucy's and only pushed out of his face by a small clip, barely noticeable in the strands. Red eyes, brighter than her own.

Katsuragi Adamu was, by all rights, a Diclonius in appearance, even if he was missing the signature horns.

It confused Lucy. How could the Director of the institute look so much like her kind? That made no sense. Not only that, but she'd seen several male Diclonii before, and none looked even remotely like the females. They were always bald, with conical horns and dark eyes, but Adamu looked far more feminine.

Well, his face did, at least. His face was angular, and if it wasn't for his body she'd have mistaken him for a full Diclonius. She voiced her thoughts, after hesitating while she sorted out the information.

"Are you one of us?" she asked, trying and failing to keep her voice level. The surprise at his appearance was just too great to ignore.

Adamu grinned, lowering his hands, now holding the last of the bandages. "You are as human as I am." he said simply. "But no, I do not possess your abnormal gene, nor do I have any kind of pituitary mutation. I bet my looks surprised you, but I assure you I am indeed a member of _homo sapiens sapiens_."

"How is that possible?" Lucy breathed. "How can you look so much like us if you are human?"

Adamu sighed, speaking slowly, clearly used to this conversation. "No idea, honestly. I've been like this since birth. I've been touched by Vectors from other individuals before, perhaps they've influenced me as well. I don't really know, but in any case, I don't particularly care either way. I make no distinction between Diclonii and Sapients, so to me, it does not matter which I am, or if I am some third species." He laughed. "Not that that's very likely. I mean, I think we both know how the Institute treats Diclonii."

His smile dropped, and he looked down. "I hate that. I hate how you and the others are treated here. But I understand the reasons as well. We _are_ fundamentally different, though that's no reaon to be capturing everyone with your mutations."

Lucy tilted her head. "From what I understand, most of the prisoners here are due to our inherent violent behavior." she stated, and Katsuragi simply laughed in response.

"Violent behavior?! I have never once met a Diclonius who IS violent. Ignorant and afraid, yes, that's completely understandable, but violent? No, the only truly violent people I've ever met are Sapients. And they have no excuse."

He sighed, and without warning, sat down on the bed beside her, making her jump in surprise. She almost instinctively attacked him, but managed to hold back just in time. She knew that had she tried she'd have to feel that splitting headache again, and he'd just stop her again like he had last time, however he'd done it. Besides, she still had plenty to ask, and she knew she'd be stuck here for a long time.

She thought about the first time he'd come. How _had_ he blocked her Vectors? She was certain, now that she had a good look at the room, that he hadn't been behind anything, and she had been functioning somewhat properly at the time, so there was no reason to have failed.

"How did you survive my attack when you first came here?" she asked him. "No one can block a Diclonius' Vectors."

Katsuragi grinned, running a finger along his mouth in a zipping motion. "That's a secret you'll have to find out yourself...in due time." he said cryptically. "No need to take things out of order."

Lucy frowned in response, before sighing, shrugging as she stared at him. She would get her answer, she knew it. She'd just have to play along until she could tease it out of him.

She wasn't exactly famous for her patience, but she'd just have to try the unfamiliar feeling, because for some reason, she had a feeling that this boy, who was Director of the most secretive organization on the planet and yet was barely a sprout if he was as young as he looked, was a far bigger threat than he seemed. She'd learned long ago to never trust anyone, be they Diclonius or human, and while Katsuragi was clearly not a sinister person in the slightest, in fact, he was a bit too happy, she had a feeling that he was more powerful than he let on.

She hated to admit it, but she had a feeling he could be contender even against someone as proficient with Vectors as she was at full power. The thought of a mere human being able to match her was terrifying, and she sincerely hoped she was wrong in that regard.

Looking at him gave no answers. All she saw was that slightly annoyingly wide grin, like he had not a care in the world.

Perhaps he didn't. After all, he was casually talking to the greatest serial killer in the last several decades as if she was a close friend. Either he was extremely brave, or he was incredibly stupid.


	6. The Visitor

Kohta leapt up when he heard the news, and all but ran to the doorway, where the soldier still stood. Being Kohta, he didn't really think, immediately grabbing the woman by her collar and forcing her against the wall, a crazed look in his eyes.

"Where is she?! Where is Nyu?!" he shouted at the soldier, who just looked at him with an expression of pity. The college-age man obviously wouldn't be much of a match if the soldier got serious, but she let him have his way in any case.

It was not her orders to hurt them, after all. Quite the opposite.

She raised his hands, grinning in an effort to calm Kohta down. "Keep it down, she's perfectly safe. May I please come inside so I can tell you what you wish to hear?"

Kohta glared at her for several seconds, frozen in place, before sighing, letting the soldier go and nodding curtly. "Fine." he said, walking inside, though he kept an eye on the visitor.

The woman nodded and followed behind him, and within a few minutes, everyone had gathered in the dining room, staring at her.

She laughed nervously, removing the combat helmet she wore in what was probably intended to be a sign of peace, and shook her head to spread out the short, obviously dyed brown hair, its original color difficult to discern. She glanced at Nana. "Oh, you're one of them, aren't you?" he asked.

Nana growled at her. She may not have been actively hunted by the forces, but she still didn't have to trust someone working for the institute. She didn't know who this new Director was and didn't trust him as much as she'd trusted her Papa.

"Yes, I am, and I have a lot more range than-" She was interrupted by the soldier waving a hand.

"There is no order out to reclaim you, Number 7." Nana grit her teeth at the title. "The new Director has no desire to take back escaped Diclonii, barring Lucy, of course, but she is a special case, though I can't say I know the details. I'm just a soldier, after all."

"Where is Nyu-chan?" Mayu asked. The soldier looked at her and nodded.

"She is at the Diclonius Research Institute, recovering from wounds she suffered during her last fight. I cannot tell you where the institute is, as the information was not disclosed to me, but you may be receiving another visitor soon who can give you more complete information."

Kohta sighed. "And how is Lucy?" he asked. The soldier glanced at him, before shaking her head.

"I do not know, I have only enough information to confirm for you that she is alive and safe. Her true status will be disclosed to you if your next visitor actually decides to show up." The soldier showed the first sign of emotion at that, chuckling quietly to herself. "She's not known for her punctuality, so it may be a while."

She stood up, groaning as she did so as she stretched her joints. "Now, I am sorry, but I must report back that I have contacted you. Saori Kohta-san, I suggest that you do not attack her if she comes. I am under direct order by the Institute not to hurt you or any of the residents here, but she is under no such obligation." She shook her head and sighed. "And if anything, her temper is as short as a Diclonius' is, and I'd rather take on a Diclonius than her when she's angry."

Yuka shuddered at the idea, knowing the power the race of horned humans had after the battle that had revealed Lucy's identity. "Someone as powerful as Lucy is?" she asked fearfully.

The soldier laughed, pulling her hair so she could reattach her helmet to her head. "In terms of skill, she's closer to Number 2, whose strength is estimated at about a quarter that of Lucy's. But in terms of experience...Let's just say her kill count is in the triple digits. For reference, Lucy's current confirmed record is 67 deaths."

Kohta barely registered the kill number, or hardly anything else the woman had said. All he could think about was that Lucy was _alive._ He didn't know how, but he promised that he would somehow find a way to see her again, even if he had to personally attack this Diclonius Research Institute, wherever it may be.

The soldier nodded. "Well, thank you for your time." she said, nodding and beginning to head out.

She stopped at the door and looked up as if she'd forgotten something, then looked back at them. "Oh, I almost forgot. If your other visitor does actually show up, please tell her that Doctor Tatenashi wanted to speak with her. I don't know what about, but I can't directly contact her because she doesn't like associating with us lowly soldiers."

With that, she was gone, the door closing behind her, leaving the four residents speechless as they processed what she'd told them

Mayu was the one who spoke first, smiling in the innocent way she often did. "So, Nyu-chan is still alive. That's good. I hope she's alright…"


	7. Argenteus Lunae

True to the soldier's word, three days passed and there was no sign of the supposed other visitor. The entire time was spent quietly, though it was not as dead silent as it had been before the soldier had arrived and told them that Nyu was still alive.

That had been just what Kohta had needed to lift him from his depression, and while Nana knew she wouldn't be able to see her adoptive father again, the thought of being able to see the older Diclonius was uplifting.

She hoped Lucy hadn't slipped all the way back to what she had once been. She liked Nyu much more than she liked Lucy, who wouldn't think twice about killing for no reason in particular.

Everyone eagerly awaited the arrival of the mysterious person who was apparently so high up the hierarchy she was entrusted with the secrets of the DRI, but none actually expected her to arrive. It was foolish to assume she would, if the soldier's words were anything to go by.

However, their expectations proved to be unfounded, and the doorbell rang, three times in a row, as if the visitor was impatient to be let in.

Like she really had the right to be answered early, with the amount of delay it took. But nobody there was that mean to ignore her, and they were all excited to see what she had to say anyway, even if she worked for the institute keeping Nyu captured.

"I'll get it!" Mayu called, before running to the door to open it.

She smiled softly at the visitor, who looked as much like one of the soldiers as Kohta looked like Nyu.

Silver hair, so long that it almost reached her knees. Odd cyan eyes that seemed to glow as she glanced at the child in front of her. She was short, but not overly so, though Mayu was too small to accurately guess her height. She wore an odd dress-like outfit, deep red in coloration and apparently made of some kind of leather, tight-fitting and connected through two straps on the front.

"What are you staring at?" she asked, then grinned. "Invite me in!"

Mayu was taken aback by this reaction. All the other Institute people always seemed to be serious and somber about everything they did. It was a sudden change of pace for this oddly happy-go-lucky girl to show up.

"Uhh, right, come on in…" she said, turning to call inside. "The other person is here!" she called.

Within moments, everyone was back at the table they'd sat at with the soldier, and there were sweatdrops all around at how...outgoing the girl was.

She'd accepted a bowl of ramen Yuka had offered, and was currently digging in, a comically large grin on her face as she did so.

It seemed like only a few moments and the bowl was empty, the girl, who definitely didn't even look old enough to vote, much less work for the DRI, smiling and patting her stomach.

"Much better, I haven't eaten in three days!" she said. "Whoever made that, kudos to you!"

She flashed another grin before scooting forward to the table. "Right, right, right. I should probably introduce myself, though I bet you're more interested about Lucy-chan."

 _Chan…?_ Everyone thought simultaneously. _What is up with this girl?_

"Yeah…" Kohta said, and the girl nodded rapidly.

"Right. Well, my name's Argenteus Lunae, though just call me Luna. You Japanese never pronounce things correctly, so just Luna's good enough. Anyway, I'm a mercenary currently employed by the DRI, though I'm not technically working there. But I'm fine with that, I like this new Director far better than the guy before, though the new one kind of scares me...But that's beside the point. He said to tell you that Lucy-chan is doing fine, though she's still not at full capacity and may never be, poor thing, but that's what you get when you have your own horns shot off…"

Yuka raised a hand to stop the excited girl from talking. "Please slow down, I can barely keep up with what you're saying. What about this new Director? Who is he anyway?"

Luna tilted her head, before nodding. "Sorry, I get ahead of myself a lot. There's not many who can keep up with me usually it seems. The new Director's not somebody you'd know, but I bet you know him, Nana-chan!"

Nana blinked. "I...do?" she asked, and Luna nodded.

"But anyway, moving on! He offered to let you all come to the island to meet Lucy! Of course, you can't take her back, but that's better than nothing, right?"


	8. Lucy's Visitors

Over the next week, Katsuragi began visiting Lucy almost every day. He had immediately taken to considering her his friend, but it had taken a while for him to crack her shell and convince her that he truly was out for her best interests. It had gotten to the point that they'd managed to form some weird friendship with each other, mainly based on Lucy's inability to leave her bed, so she really didn't have much choice in the matter, but it wasn't as bad as she'd originally thought it would be.

Katsuragi did everything he could to make her feel at home, even in the sickeningly sterile hospital room, and it was honestly both sweet and terrifying to her that he tried so hard. It was like he was trying to convince her to forget that he worked for the organization that kept her captive, as if he was just some family member visiting her.

It wasn't quite enough for her to forget, but she had to admit that he was better company than the purely professional doctors that came by every day to give her her medication and ask questions that she still refused to answer.

She found it more bearable when he was alone as well, without the woman who constantly was buzzing around his back. She still didn't know her name, but she didn't really care. That woman had the air of a DRI employee, professional and with an obvious hatred for the horned beings, the complete opposite of Katsuragi's excitable nature.

This time, he had come alone, and was oddly pushing an empty wheelchair in front of him, stopping in front of her bed with it and smiling.

Lucy tilted her head at the wheelchair and looked at him. "What is this for?" she asked.

"Well, you're not going to be able to walk on your own for a long time now, since you've still got quite a bit of healing to do and your spinal column's pumped full of chemicals, so I'll be taking you out."

"Out where?" she asked. He couldn't have meant that she was being released, there was no way that the institute would just let her go free.

"Oh, I guess you don't know. These doctors don't seem to like giving you much news about the other goings-on in the institute, do they?" he asked. "I sent someone out a couple days ago to pick up your family, and they should be here right about now."

Lucy's eyes widened. "M-My-?"

Katsuragi waved his hand. "Not that one. Far as I know the investigation to find your biological family has been unsuccessful. I mean, Saori-san and the others."

If she hadn't been unable to walk, Lucy would have probably jumped out of her bed at the statement. "Kohta's here?!" she asked, staring at the man.

He laughed. "Yes, he is, and so are the others. I had to pull a few strings to let Nana stay here without being recaptured, but everyone's here. They've all missed you, Kaede."

She still found it strange when he called her by her real name, but by now, she'd given up trying to stop him from doing so, and besides, she had far more important things on her mind right now.

"Help me out of this bed." she said, a barely concealed tone of a mixture of excitement and guilt in her voice. "I don't know why he wants to see me again after he finally remembered me, but I want to at least see him."

She raised her arms to Katsuragi in a position that showed that she wanted him to help her move, ignoring how awkward it felt to be doing such a thing. Seeing them again was just too important for her to care how weak she may or may not look.

Katsuragi laughed and took her hands, gently pulling her forward so she could slide off the bed. He wrapped one hand around her back in order to lift her, before bending over to set her down in the chair. "Have to say...I've had to help plenty of injured Diclonii before, but I've never had to help one into a wheelchair."

Lucy shifted as much as she could in order to sit comfortably in the chair, and stared up at him. "Okay, take me to them." she said. "And you know that I'm trusting you quite a bit here. Don't betray that trust. I still can use one Vector at least." _Even if he could probably stop it anyway._

Katsuragi laughed, getting behind the wheelchair so he could take the handles in his hands and start pushing it towards the door. He stopped for a brief moment to talk to one of the doctors nearby, who backed away when he explained why he was taking her out.

As he walked down the hallway, which to Lucy had a far more bearable scent to it since it wasn't full of antibacterial sprays, and there was more sounds, of people walking along the pathways and conversing with each other.

She didn't recognize this part of the Institute, but then again, she hadn't been to many areas during her time here and subsequent escape.


	9. Dependent

As Katsuragi rolled Lucy through the corridors, they spent their time in silence. It wasn't exactly companionable, but there wasn't much of an air of tension either. She simply didn't want to talk, and Katsuragi respected her wish.

Lucy stared between her feet at the moving ground as they travelled, her mouth in a small frown as she thought over the situation she was in.

On the positive side, she was going to get to see him again. On the negative, she had no idea how he would react now that he knew her true identity. She didn't really care about how the other two humans saw her, and especially had no problem with Nana's views on her, but she loathed the thought of being hated by Kohta.

Kohta. The first person to accept her for who she was, all those years ago. She'd betrayed him, killed his father and sister and many others, just because he said a little white lie.

She never knew what it was about that lie that had made her snap. Looking back, she had a feeling he had told her that lie to protect her obviously fragile mental state. She'd had no business worrying about whether he'd told her the truth or not.

She let out her one Vector, pushing the hand under one of the wheels of the wheelchair, making it stop dea in its tracks.

"Huh?" Katsuragi asked, stopping in his path and looking at her. "Are you alright, Lucy?"

Lucy closed her eyes, smiling to herself, careful to keep her face covered by the long strands of her hair. _Of course he would immediately know it was my Vector and not just a rut on the floor._ she thought to herself, before looking back to him, her smile dropping to a frown.

"I...don't want to meet him." she said, staring into the man's eyes. "I've...I'm a terrible person, I don't deserve to see him after the things I've done to him."

Katsuragi just smiled in response, and spoke with a tone of firm authority, though not in any way demanding. "Retract your Vector. I won't allow you to beat yourself up over it. That's all in the past, and I know that Saori-san won't hold you accountable for it. He's a good person, and so are you."

She would have argued, but the stern expression that didn't quite match his feminine face made her think twice about it. It still amazed her how, when she was usually so strong and so unstoppable, she was powerless any time this person was around. It was like she truly wanted to believe that he really did care about her, even though the more logical side of her kept reminding her that he worked for the organization that captured and tortured her kind. She couldn't trust him, and yet she found herself allowing him to carry her like this.

She'd always thought that she was alone, ignoring or just flat-out refusing the company of others, but now that she was in a situation like this, she found it strangely pleasant, to be so totally dependent on someone as she was of the current Director.

She found herself staring at him, almost transfixed with his face. He looked so much like one of her kind, especially now that his hairclip seemed to have come loose, letting his shoulder-length hair almost cover one of his eyes, though he barely seemed to notice the red obscuring his vision.

She realized that she was smiling, a genuine smile, with none of the sadness she usually felt. Just genuine gratitude for Katsuragi's decision to trust her.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd truly smiled, but now she did. She nodded, and her Vector vanished, allowing him to continue pushing her to their destination.

"Katsuragi." she said, and he tilted his head, his hair shifting away from his face as he looked down at her from his position at the handles.

"Yes? What is it?" he asked. "Something wrong?"

She shook her head, the smile still on her face. "No. It's...exactly the opposite. Just...Thank you for bringing them back to me. Thank you for caring enough to do this much for me."

The smile he gave in return was broad, filled with all the seemingly endless happiness that he always carried with him, and it was like his happiness was infectious, filling her as well with its glow. "I care about all of you, Kaede." he said. "And this was the least I could do for you, you've had a lot of pain in your life up until now, so I'll do my best to bring you at least some happiness. Though, I can't let you go with them back home, for obvious reasons."

"I know." she replied. "I know that I'm stuck here again. I haven't quite accepted that yet, but I'm not exactly in a state to argue it right now. Besides, I could tell even from my small corner in the hospital room that you've got far more sway here than Kurama did. You'd probably catch me in a heartbeat if I tried to escape."

Katsuragi laughed. "I wouldn't, but Tatenashi-sensei would send in the infantry, or worse, Luna-chan. Don't ask who she is, you don't really want to know."


	10. Reunion

Yuka lightly patted Kohta's shoulder, looking at him with concern. He was visibly shaking in his seat, though the expression on his face made it difficult to tell what emotion drove the trembling.

"Don't worry, Kohta. I'm sure she's alright. Luna said that she was being brought here even now."

"That's right!" exclaimed the ever-excited mercenary, standing in the middle of the room facing a doorway, holding her hands behind her back like a little child. "I can hear them coming now!"

True to her word, within seconds, the sounds of people talking could be heard through the door. It opened and the voices went silent, and through the entrance came two people who looked remarkably similar. Lucy was in a wheelchair, looking down at the ground with a small smile on her face, and she was being pushed by a man with a very similar hairstyle to the one Lucy had, albeit a little more well-kept. He'd apparently made an attempt to hold it out of his face with a hairclip, though now, the clip hung sadly on a few strands, the rest covering one of his eyes.

Lucy looked up, and her eyes went wide as her gaze met with Kohta's. "Koh-" she said, jumping up from her seat, and broke her gaze when she nearly collapsed onto the ground, though she was quickly caught by the man, arm wrapping around her torso.

The man sighed. "Calm down there, Kaede, I told you you can't walk on your own yet." he said. "Look, I'll carry you over there."

She glanced at him, and nodded, wrapping her arm around his shoulders so that he could lift her up, holding her to his side and continuing to walk, her feet dragging on the ground behind them since he was only just taller than her.

"Nyu!" Kohta shouted, standing up in his seat and all but running towards her.

She looked at him and smiled, an expression of both happiness and sadness at seeing him again, and she grimaced as the action sent a small bolt of pain through her skull.

"I...didn't think you'd ever want to see me again." she said. "After what happened on the bridge."

Kohta didn't hesitate to shake his head. "I can't hate you for that!" he shouted, making her flinch. "I mean, it was a shock and you scare me now, but I don't hate you!"

"If you don't mind, would you please turn down the yelling a bit?" the man asked. "It's not a big deal, but Kaede's still recovering, as evidenced by how I have to hold her up, and you could end up giving her a migraine if you continue screaming. She's not going anywhere, you have plenty of time to play catch up."

Luna stepped forward to him, and for the first time since the group had met her, she seemed genuinely nervous, as if just being around the man scared her. "K-Katsuragi-sama, I brought them here, just like you asked…" she stuttered. "So, can you…?"

The man looked at her and grinned. "Right. Good work, Luna." he said, laughing and holding his free hand out to pat the top of her head. This resulted in a low purr coming from the girl's throat, closing her eyes and leaning into his hand.

He laughed. "And of course, you'll get your actual pay too, once everything's taken care of here."

"Wait...Katsuragi…" Nana said, stepping forward, her eyes wide. "A-Adamu-kun?!" she asked in surprise once she could see around Kohta's body to the person carrying the Diclonius she'd originally been sent to kill.

Katsuragi glanced at her, and his smile broadened. "Nana!" he exclaimed. "How have things been since we last met? From what I heard, you've gotten into a lot of trouble over Kaede here."

Nana stared, before shaking her head to clear her thoughts. "You're the new Director?!" she stammered.

"You know him, Nana-chan?" Mayu asked, and the pink-haired girl looked at her and nodded.

"Adamu-kun was one of my keepers while I was here…" she explained. "He was one of the few other than Papa who actually seemed to care about my wellbeing."

"He cares about more than just yours, it seems." Lucy said, making the other Diclonius look at her. "Supposedly, he takes care of every one of us in the Institute."

"It's great how you're talking about me like I'm not literally holding you up right now, Kaede." Katsuragi said, though his tone made it obvious that he didn't really mind. "And yeah, Nana, I am the Director now. Tatenashi-sensei says that I was the obvious choice, but really, all I've done differently so far is visit kaede while she's in the infirmary and give a couple orders directly to Luna and the soldiers. Tatenashi-sensei does most of the 'Director' work for me."

"You...You still are a better Director than Kurama was." Luna said.

"Don't be so quick to deny Kurama. He was less forgiving, but he had his own strengths."


End file.
